Jill McGuire's Cool Tech JobDesigner of extreme tools used in space
Be Persistant Advice from Jill: Be willing to take any position, even if it might not be glamorous. See the Discovery News Video featuring Jill McGuire
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Hubble Space Telescope Crew Aids and Tools Manager If you had to write an ad to fill your job, what would it say? Wanted: Energetic mechanical or aeronautical engineer to build a wide variety of tools with various materials and mechaisms. Must have good people skills, be easygoing and readily handle change. Must like to Scuba dive and travel. What's the coolest thing about your job? Getting to work one on one with the Astronauts to develop tools for space then getting to watch them used successfully on orbit to complete the task. What are at least five duties you have as part of your job? 1. Leading a team developing a space tool. 2. Directing or training astronauts at Goddard, JPC or KPC. 3. Diving in the Neutral Bouyancy Lab. 4. Traveling/visiting a contractor. 5. Working with engineers to design, fab or test tools What's the coolest thing you've done so far in your current job? Diving in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston to assist in training the Astronauts Does your career ever get dull or routine? How do you rekindle your love for it? No, there is never a dull moment, everyday is something new. It is easy to rekindle my love for it every time I see a picture taken from the Hubble Space Telescope, it reminds me how the valuable the work that I do is to educating our youth and answering key scientific questions about our universe. Did you ever expect to have the career you have? No. What was your career path? I knew I always wanted to work for NASA, but I never imagined that I would get to do something as cool as building space tools with the astronauts. I started out as Co-op as NASA when I was in college at the University of North Dakota. NASA paid for me to finish school and then hired me full-time when I graduated. I asked the Co-op coordinator what it was that made them choose me over the thousands of other applicants, and he jokingly said that my application fell on the floor and stuck to his foot. In reality, he said it was my persistence in calling him that he said he could tell that I had what it took to work my way up through the ranks. Do you have advice for how people can find their own cool job and live out their passions? Be persistent! If there is a job that you really really want, you need to keep trying to get your foot in the door. Be willing to take any position even if it might not be glamorous because if you do that job well you will earn respect from within the company and earn a better position. |
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More Cool Jobs in Sci/TechNot all of us love our jobs. (Some people don't even have a job!) But a fortunate few have carved out unique, exciting, challenging careers in the area of technology, and all of them say they love their jobs. Find out what they do each day, why they like going to work, how they found their calling and what advice they have for you with this Wide Angle series: Cool Tech Jobs. Sponsored by
Ice Guru: Waleed Abdalati tries to understand how the world is changing by tracking its ice with satellites. Hacker/Consultant/Garbage Man: Josh Klein is a self-described cross-discipline mad scientist who stirs up trouble and creates the impossible while solving real problems. Solar Astrophysicist: Dr. Mario Bisi gets to study wiggling comets and distant twinkling quasars every day. Mountain Gorilla Doctor: Dr. Lucy Spelman coordinates medical care for the wild mountain gorillas of Rwanda, Congo and Uganda. Megavolcano Investigator: Linda Elkins-Tanton wanders the Siberian wilderness and rafts down rivers in search of ancient catastrophes. Extreme Tool Maker: Jill McGuire helps develop tools that astronauts use in space. She's the only one in the country with such a job. Microsoft User Experience Researcher: As part of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Group, Masuma Henry helps bring technology to underserved, emerging markets. 
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